Despite the fact that I have been baking gluten free for several years, I never got around to trying out teff flour. Teff is a lesser known ancient grain which is ground into gluten free flour.  It is often not as available as some of the other staple gluten free flours.

Teff is a fine grain that grows predominantly in Ethiopia. The grain has a very mild, nutty flavor, and is  high in protein, calcium, and iron. Ground into flour, teff makes an excellent gluten-free flour alternative. Use it to make pie crusts, cookies, breads, and an assortment of other baked goods. Although I haven’t tried it yet, teff is said to work well with chocolate; that’s on my list to try next!

I found the teff flour and finally decided to give it a try. The package had a recipe for gluten free teff muffins on the back, which I used as a basic guide for my banana teff muffins. As a result, the modifications I made to the recipe turned out really well!

Banana Teff Muffins – Makes 10-11 Small Muffins

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup teff flour
• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup mashed banana
• 2-4 Tb. water or enough to thin the batter

Preheat oven to 400º F. Grease muffin cups. Combine sugar, flours, tapioca starch, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl mix eggs, oil, and banana; add to flour mixture, mixing quickly. If the batter is very thick, add in water by the tablespoon to to thin as needed (I used about 2 1/2 Tb. water). Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for approximately 25 minutes. **Be careful not over bake the muffins; they can turn out too dry if over baked.

Gluten Free Banana Teff Muffins